Linebacker Block Destruction

Some tips and drills for shedding blocks as a Canadian football linebacker

As a Canadian football linebacker, there is no reason to take on every block. We have a lot of space to work with in the Canadian game, and it’s often possible to defeat a block with SPEED while maintaining the proper leverage on the ball carrier.

At times, however, a Canadian football linebacker may find themselves in a position — based on the distance between them, the blocker and the ball carrier — where they have no choice but to take on a block with their hands and then disengage to attack the ball carrier.

Hand Position

Great block destruction starts with good hand position. A linebacker will often give up a few pounds to a blocking offensive lineman. They will also likely have a certain Gap they will need to leverage based on scheme. For these reasons, it’s often best to take on half of the blocker instead of the whole blocker. To do this, the linebacker should strike the near shoulder of the blocker as well as the midline (middle of the chest, “V” of the neck) of the blocker.

One drill that works this technique involves the players lining up on both knees in order to isolate the hands. Have the defender shade one side of the blocker, and on the coaches “GO!”, the defender’s hands should go from the ground to their hand position as quickly as possible. This drill can be done at a high tempo and you can get in a large number of reps in a short period of time.

Extend Arms

The next progression of teaching this skill has the defenders start in a “fit position”. This means they already have perfect hand position, and they are grabbing onto the jersey of the blocker. Hips should be low, eyes up, in a good, athletic football position.

On the coaches “GO!”, the defender should extend their arms and step forward with their outside foot in order to throw their hip into their Gap.

Coaching Point: When the defender extends their arms, their eyes should snap from the blocker to the ball carrier.

Hot Feet

The next progression of the drill begins the same way, but this time instead of just stepping into the Gap, the linebacker will keep their feet “hot”. This simulates the battle that occurs as the defender works to control the blocker, squeeze, and find the ball carrier.

Coaching Point: It’s natural that the shoulders will slightly turn here, but players should attempt to keep their shoulders as square as possible to the line of scrimmage.

Disengage

The final phase of block destruction is the disengagement. If the first phase of this technique is done properly, the defender is in a great position here to disengage with a RIP move. The outside hand should be grabbing enough jersey to PULL on the blocker’s shoulder. The defender’s backside hand can then execute a forceful RIP while the back leg steps through to clear the blocker’s hips.

Additional Progressions

You can add a number of different layers to this drill in order to continue developing your players:

-Have the defender step back one yard away from the blocker before the drill starts. Now they must approach the ball carrier on the “GO!” call and find their hand position on the fly.

-Finish with an Arm Over (Swim) instead of a Rip

-Add in a tackling drill after the defender disengages from the blocker

-Add in a turnover drill (Scoop and Score, etc.) after the defender disengages from the blocker

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All the best!

Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
IG: @jonsvecx
Twitter: @jonsvecx